I do not do well with funerals.
I realize that the dead are no longer with us, so it must be for the living.
But the living generally need slapped down with a brick ...
Dick's funeral was no different.
Except that I was not there, I was stuck due to a massive infection.
So, no peace keeper present, between multiple warring children.
You have to understand that the only reason anyone talked to Dick, in his family, was because I played neutral negotiator between him and his children. Over a beer one night in Denver, he told me about his life - the successes, the failures, no man had ever been so open with me before! And since there are no coincidences ... then God was showing me an injustice and I did have the ability to help ...
So, I took on his family!
The oldest daughter got it figured out real fast - that her mother had lied to her for years and been stealing their gifts and money from their father.
The oldest son, was wary but he when got a college scholarship to University of Arizona ;) - lived with his father (unwillingly at first) and figured out this monster of a man, was not - his mother was. Youngest daughter actually never knew her father as she was very young when he left the family and can not forgive him for that.
And youngest son, could not have cared less. He was into drugs young and spent his youth stoned. In his adult years, stoned on harder stuff all the while filing lawsuits against his father for various abuses which never occurred - using the supporting testimonies of crystal readers and other "psychics" which are not valid - thank goodness! So, he never won a case against his father but sure made that man's life miserable! And then there was a step-son whom dearly loved Dick.
So, whom are the problems in Tucson right now? Yup, youngest daughter whom is enraged that her father died without allowing her to tell him exactly what she thought! and at her youngest brother. Why? Well, it seems that when you show up at a funeral demanding money, well it is not taken well! He did the same thing at his youngest sister husband's funeral, as well as, his own mother's! Yeah, totally hung up on his own needs (drugs) and how to finance the next high. Sigh. It really sickens me - so perhaps it is good I could not travel. Sigh.
There were various readings Biblical and traditional, plus stories from the family. Since I could not be there, I had asked the step son to read my statement - he could not, he collapsed. I understand well. So, the oldest daughter read my statement. Yeah, I was sitting here watching Youtube and I was crying, as she did so. And she could not finish it.
So, everything is wrapping up and I am recovering emotionally here ... and someone in the crowd asked to say a few words. It was not planned and a little old man walked onto stage. No one knew whom he was in the audience, other than family. And he talked of his 60 year association with Dick, both as a friend, a co-worker and eventually boss - across numerous projects around the world.
And he kept his name out of it, so I will respect his privacy. But, there stood one of the richest men in the world - a billionaire so elusive that few know his name, much less that he even exists. His holdings are all hidden behind layers of multi-national corporations. I only had met him once in New York City about 1985 - he was a real person, I liked him.
And a real person, shows up at "his best friend"s funeral.
They say the measure of a man, is the measure of his friends. You would not have believed the varied crowd there - poor and super rich, old and young, Christians and Buddhists, representatives of numerous foreign governments.
Dick had an impact on many:
an award winning author
numerous books on genealogy, WWI, mining history, Colorado and environmental issues
created a mineral collection only eclipsed by the Smithsonian
discoverer of 6 new minerals
discoverer of the most ancient iron forge in the world
and 21 descendants
So bummer of a day, glad it is over, I wish I was there - I need a hug .....
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